C section vs natural delivery

[ChildOfTheMoon]

Give me the truth. No matter how wonderful , traumatic or gross it is. I want to know how painful your experiences were and your honest advice
So to have a c section or a natural delivery ( without or without meds)

@Tiredbehyondbelief how come forceps are banned in some countries?

I mostly look after high risk women (95%). However we have an adjacent midwifery led unit. I will reiterate not every labour is long and exhausting

A Dr needs to be appropriately trained and initially supervised to use them safely. They are safe instruments in safe hands and versatile than ventouse.

ELCS. It was brilliant. Recovery quick, fewer complications than my sister who had a natural birth. Virtually pain free. You do need help for a few weeks after baby is born but you kinda need that anyway. Benefit to the baby was thay I was much less stressed about it all. Good luck to you!

Went natural with both of mine, no pain relief, no gas and air.

1st one there was definitely pain but I was relaxed about it and expected it so think I managed it well with breathing and a warm bath.

2nd one there wasn't any pain, he just came out too quickly for it!

It really is the luck of the draw and listening to horror stories will just make you anxious about it.

Induced at 42 weeks. 34 hours, a spinal injection and forceps later, DS arrived healthy and fine. I had a 4th degree tear and the recovery was horrible, spent another 5 nights in hospital following the blood loss. I was worried about forceps tbh but by that point we had no choice, thankfully we were both okay.

If I could choose again, I would be half tempted to have a C section if I were massively overdue again.

That doesn’t answer why some countries have banned their use?

Drs have to be appropriately trained in any procedure.

I had a c section. Natural birth never held any appeal to me, in fact I was phobic of it. My c section was great, best decision I've ever made. I had some pain, but nothing the paracetamol and ibuprofen didn't sort out.

Week one, I was able to do stairs, climb in and out of the bath and take the pram for 1-2 mile walks. Week two, we started going out for lunch with the baby. Week three, I was off the painkillers entirely and taking baby on the train to go into town for brunch without assistance.

Anecdotally, I know more people with vaginal births who suffered trauma or had a worse recovery than I did (and it's not just because I know more vaginal births, because I actually don't!).

I had an induction that caused hyperstimulation so the birth was very fast. I had no pain relief as a result but baby came out after less than 10 mins of pushing with no instruments or anything.

The pain when crowning was extreme but over very quickly. I had several second degree tears but they healed up fine after a few weeks.

C section wasn't offered as an option to me (I'm sure I could have asked for one if I really wanted it) but I'm glad I didn't need one in the end because my recovery was pretty quick and easy in the end.

maternityaudit.org.uk/FilesUploaded/Ref%20336%20NMPA%20Clinical%20Report_2022.pdf @Tiredbehyondbelief

Under key findings:

For 1st time mums, 23% had instrumental delivery and 23% had EMCS.

See the stats for first time mums

Instrumental isn't necessarily that bad, my second was back to back baby ventouse and episiotomy. Drove myself 20 miles home less than 24 hours after giving birth (husband was seriously ill).

First was rotational forceps and that was much rougher to recover from, mostly because episiotomy stiches split. The forceps/first pregnancy did also weaken my pelvic floor but this was made no worse by second assisted delivery. In fact, the second vaginal birth seems to have healed scar tissue left from first episiotomy and I now feel better down there than before second pregnancy.

Honestly, the worst thing to recover from both times have been awful piles 🤣

Just posting this because many people do have safe assisted deliveries. My first and second felt very different to each other.

I also looked at the history of the 4 women in my family on the maternal side who have given birth (and probably have similar pelvis shapes etc). Interestingly, they all had an EMCS with their first after a nightmare delivery attempt vaginally and an ELCS. On balance I decided my chances of a successful vaginal birth were slim.

Just a thought. If your female relatives had easy births you probably have a good chance.